


sleepover

by indiffrntnewt



Series: my newtmas oneshots [5]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M, Newt - Freeform, Not really angsty, Thomas - Freeform, Thominewt, idk what to put here, newtmas - Freeform, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23284069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiffrntnewt/pseuds/indiffrntnewt
Summary: It was four in the afternoon when Thomas knocked on Newt’s door, holding two very heavy grocery bags full of video games and all kinds of food. His friend opened the door fairly quickly, groaning when he caught sight of Thomas’ wide grin and the bags that were about to burst open.“This isn’t gonna end well for me, is it?”“Absolutely not.”---------un-beta'ed so bear with me
Relationships: Ben/Minho (Maze Runner), Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner), Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Series: my newtmas oneshots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1309421
Comments: 15
Kudos: 162





	sleepover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NewtonSangster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewtonSangster/gifts), [mxrrynxwtmas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxrrynxwtmas/gifts).



It was four in the afternoon when Thomas knocked on Newt’s door, holding two very heavy grocery bags full of video games and all kinds of food. His friend opened the door fairly quickly, groaning when he caught sight of Thomas’ wide grin and the bags that were about to burst open. 

“This isn’t gonna end well for me, is it?”

“Absolutely not.”

\---

“I’m not playing truth or dare with you.”

Thomas pouted and bit back a smile as Newt rolled his eyes. 

“Please, Newtie? For me?”

“I’m not doing it!” Newt said. “Last time, you and Minho made me give Teresa a lap dance.  _ Teresa!  _ I’m never playing that stupid game again.”

“Okay, first of all, Minho came up with that dare. I… aided and abetted,” Thomas said, chuckling. “Second of all, neither of them are here. It’s just you and me.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re not gonna let me do anything stupid. Besides, Minho’s coming back in a few hours.”

“Then just don’t pick dare.”

“You’re gonna make me  _ admit  _ stupid things if I pick truth, though,” Newt said. 

“Okay, fine,” Thomas replied and he shrugged. “Don’t play. But you’re paying for all the pizzas tonight.” 

Newt glared at him and Thomas just smirked. 

“Sometimes I wonder why we’re friends,” Newt said and he got up, probably to order pizzas, his ginger cat Lulu circling around his feet. Thomas laughed softly. 

“You’re stuck with me.”

Newt left the room and Thomas turned on the tv, switching the channel to a random movie. Thomas vaguely remembered what it was about - a girl sent a couple of guys love letters and fell in love with one of the guys. Chuck probably knew more about it than he did. Thomas couldn’t remember the last time his brother watched something that  _ wasn’t  _ this movie.

Newt walked back into the room, throwing his phone on the couch. He glanced at the tv and sighed. 

“Oh my god, if I see this movie one more time, I’m throwing my tv out the window.”

Thomas snorted and turned the tv off. 

“I was just trying not to get bored while you were ordering pizza.”

Newt rolled his eyes again and sat down next to Thomas. 

“It literally took five minutes.”

“Six, actually,” Thomas said. “I counted.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Make me.”

Newt raised his eyebrows. “Is that an invitation to make out with you?”

Thomas grabbed a pillow from behind his back and threw it at Newt. 

“Oh my god, shut up,” he said, half-laughing.

Newt caught the pillow and winked at Thomas. “Make me.”

“You know what, I already regret saying yes to this sleepover,” Thomas said, getting up to get him and Newt some drinks. 

“Thanks, love,” Newt said, running a hand through his hair. “I feel very appreciated.”

“Watch your mouth or I might throw you out of the house.”

“It’s my house, though,” Newt said, turning around so he faced Thomas as he grabbed two glasses. “Besides, you love me too much to do that.”

Thomas snorted. “In your dreams.”

“Well, then I must be dreaming all the time." 

Thomas rolled his eyes and flipped him off. He ignored Newt as he threw Thomas a fake-hurt look, clutching his heart. 

After pouring in the drinks, Thomas looked up from the two glasses and smiled at Newt, who smiled back at him. It wasn’t the confident, funny smile from mere seconds ago, but a genuine one, the one he barely ever showed to the world. Thomas loved that smile. 

He scanned Newt’s face for a second. Newt, knowing what was coming, stopped smiling and threw his head back as he groaned. “Please, no.”

Thomas smirked. “Come on, Newtie, please?”

“Call me that again and I’ll punch you.” 

Thomas knew he’d won, though, because Newt was already reaching inside one of the plastic bags. Thomas did a little victory-dance as Newt started up Mario Bros, Thomas’ favourite game. He whooped as he sat down next to Newt again, who glared at him throughout all of it, but couldn’t hold back a small smile as the familiar music started playing.

\---

Minho came back home as they were finishing up their pizzas, greeting them happily and immediately leaving for his room. Thomas raised his eyebrows at Newt, surprised at the cheerfulness. 

“He’s been seeing someone,” Newt said softly as a grin spread over his face. “He’s so happy all the time, it scares me sometimes.” 

“As in like, dating?” Thomas asked, confused. Newt nodded curtly. “It’s shocking, I know. But this seems to be an actual thing.” 

“Who is it?”

“Dunno,” Newt said. “He’s been keeping it a secret, thinks I don’t know. Makes me wonder if it’s one of our friends.”

“Or if he’s lying,” Thomas said, grabbing the last slice of pizza. “He might just be going to the gym all day.”

Newt snorted, but shook his head. “It’s legit. I’ve been hearing them talk on FaceTime sometimes. I can’t ever make out who the other person is, though.”

They remained quiet until they had completely finished their pizzas and Thomas challenged him for a round of Mario Kart. 

“You and your Mario games,” Newt mumbled, but he agreed either way. Thomas, despite being very well-trained in this game, lost spectacularly every single round. He tried to play it off as if it was on purpose, but he could see on Newt’s face that he was everything but convincing. Giving in to his loss after a few minutes, he suggested watching movies for the rest of the night, Newt commenting on every single one of their flaws. 

\---

“Should I stay on the couch?” Thomas suggested as they were cleaning up at midnight. Newt stretched, yawning softly. “No way, dude. I tried that once and it was not comfortable. I put a mattress on the floor in my room.” 

“So I can sleep next to that pile of clothes you always keep there? No thanks,” Thomas said teasingly. 

“I cleaned it up, you dickhead. I’m a great friend.” 

“A fantastic one. Not better than me, though.”

Newt threw a couch pillow at his head.

\---

Newt had even made his bed. 

“You’re an angel,” Thomas said, placing his phone and fresh clothes on the tiny desk underneath Newt’s mirror. 

“I know.” 

They ended up talking for several more hours after that, until their conversations became slower and slower and Newt mumbled a tired “Night, Tommy.” 

“Goodnight, Newt,” Thomas said, still half-awake. He stared at the ceiling for a while and then turned on his side, letting sleep take him away almost immediately. 

\---

They were standing in a room, packing up everything Thomas had brought to the sleepover. Games, books and candy were scattered all over the floor and Minho walked by, shaking his head at them. 

“And to think you couldn’t get any messier.” 

  
“Shut up, Minho,” Newt said, flipping him off. “You’re the messy one between the two of us.”

Thomas threw his thermos back in the plastic bag and smiled as he listened to their friendly bickering. Idiots. 

They cleaned up the room pretty quickly, throwing almost half of the stuff they found away. 

“Done,” Newt declared as he threw an empty coke can in the trash and turned back to Thomas. “Now what?”

Thomas stuffed his Mario Bros game in a plastic bag, struggling to get it in. “Now...”

He pushed it in and sighed, relieved. He sat down into the big comfy chair in Newt’s room and grinned. “Now, I can go home and finally do something fun.”

“You know, I really hate you sometimes,” Newt said as he walked closer. 

“Hmm.” Thomas rested his arms on the armrests as he watched Newt approach him and a nervous smile crept across his face. 

Newt came closer, pulling him up from the chair. 

“You know, it’s rude to sit down when you’re not asked to.”

“Well, I’m not gonna stand here and wait all day, am I?”

Newt smirked as he looked down on Thomas, pulling him closer by his waist and leaning in, leaving less than a few inches between their faces. 

“As if I’d make you wait.”

\---

Thomas shot up, hot sweat breaking out all over his face despite the cold room. His chest heaved, trying to catch up with his deep and heavy breaths. Next to him, Newt was still asleep, his face showing no sign Thomas had disturbed him at all. 

Thomas closed his eyes, placing his hands over his face to cool his head down. What the fuck? 

He checked again to see if Newt was asleep, but the blond seemed to have noticed nothing. 

Thomas threw the blanket off of him and stepped on the cold carpet. He needed to get out of there. As he left the room, he made sure to close the door quietly for Newt, while grabbing his phone from Newt’s desk. 

Using his phone as a flashlight, Thomas navigated himself towards the kitchen inside Newt’s apartment, where he sat down on the barstools at the counter. He placed his phone down with the flashlight up, illuminating the room ever so slightly. 

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck…”

He quieted, straining to hear if Newt or Minho had woken up from his soft whispers. Nothing, except for the nails of Lulu ticking on the floor as she approached him. She jumped up on the counter, purring softly. 

Thomas tried silencing her, but she continued anyway. Glad for the distraction, he pet her softly, but his mind kept wandering back to the dream,  _ especially _ to the last moments. 

What did it mean? Sure, it could have just been his mind playing tricks on himself, but this was something he’d never experienced before. At least not with Newt. It seemed to suspicious to have been just a silly dream. On the other hand, though, that had to have been it, right? Thomas had always been one hundred percent sure of his sexuality and he was confident in it as well, never afraid to step out of the stereotypical “straight man”-comfort zone. Why would this simple dream mess that up?

He’d had weird dreams before. This was different, though. This was not just a trick of his mind, this was a dream he  _ felt.  _ A dream that made him  _ think.  _ No matter how much he wanted to deny it, the dream wasn’t just plain weird. From the moment it started, it had made him feel nervous, confused and maybe, if he dared to use that word… excited? It was like having his first crush; he knew he shouldn’t be thinking those things and yet he couldn’t stop his mind from going back to the dream. The way it felt was  _ amazing,  _ and Thomas couldn’t get enough of it. He could almost feel Newt touching him right now. 

Shaking his head, he got up from the barstool. This was ridiculous. He was being ridiculous. It was just a stupid dream, no need for him to overthink it. 

Lulu jumped off the counter and followed him as he walked back to Newt’s room. At the end of the short hallway, he stuck out his foot to keep her from going inside and turned off the flashlight. Then, he stepped inside. 

Letting his eyes adjust to the dark, he decided to put his phone back first. Fortunately, his vision had always been pretty good, so he didn’t trip over anything on his way back to his mattress. Before he laid back down, though, he stood still. 

As far as he could see, Newt was still asleep, with his back turned towards Thomas now. Thomas choked on air as he watched his best friend. Suddenly, the sight of Newt’s sleeping silhouette was the most appealing figure in the universe, and quite frankly, Thomas didn’t know how he ended up in this situation. What the hell was wrong with him? 

Sure, Newt could be considered handsome. Thomas had always known that. And sure, he was a great person and very charming. But why on earth would his brain tie those two things together, and why  _ now _ ? 

Thomas really needed a new brain. Preferably right now.

\-------

“You look like shit. No offense.” 

“I’m living off three cups of coffee and two hours of sleep, do you really want to mess with me right now?” Thomas glared at Minho, who studied his face carefully. 

“Why didn’t you sleep?’

Thomas averted his gaze, choosing to watch the soup he was preparing instead of answering. 

“Uh - hello?”

“Hi.” 

Minho got up from the chair in the corner of the room and walked towards the kitchen islands, sitting down on one of the barstools. 

“What happened?”

Thomas sighed, putting the lid back on the soup pan. “Nothing.” 

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Minho remained quiet for a while as Thomas searched for more cutlery. It was their weekly dinner together, and it was Thomas’ turn to prepare today’s food.

“You can’t sleep.” 

“Yes.” 

“Because something happened.”

Thomas sighed in response. 

“When did it start?”

Thomas shrugged, not wanting to answer. Minho was an amazing guy, really, but he didn’t think he would take the news of Thomas’ tiny crush very well. 

“You slept well last week. At your sleepover thing.” 

“I did,” Thomas said, deciding that that information was safe to tell. 

Minho watched him cook in silence and Thomas could almost see his brain processing all the information. Not wanting him to draw a conclusion, he scratched his throat and said: “I’ll be fine, alright? Just set the table.” 

“There’s only three of us, dude,” Minho said. “Why be fancy?”

“Except there’s not only three of us, dude,” Thomas replied, imitating Minho’s way of speaking. “Sonya’s coming over and she’s bringing her girlfriend.” 

“Girlfriend?” Minho asked. “Why does nobody tell me anything here?”

Thomas grinned as Minho stood up and started searching the kitchen drawers. 

“You don’t tell us much either,” Thomas said, taking the opportunity now that he had it. “Remind me again, who are you dating?”

“Slim it.” 

\---

It wasn’t that Thomas was nervous, really. To be fair, he  _ did  _ spend more time picking out clothes and  _ fine,  _ he asked his mother for her special soup recipe, but he couldn’t say he was that nervous. He wanted to make a good impression, that’s all. Because of Sonya’s girlfriend. 

The door opened and Newt walked in, dripping water everywhere because of the heavy rain outside, and Thomas’ heart dropped. 

So did his plate. 

Swearing loudly, he kneeled down to pick up the broken shards before anyone could step in them. 

“Don’t move!” he said to Newt as he tried to step closer. “Just… hold Lulu, okay?” 

The ginger cat had peeked into the kitchen after the loud noise and was now inching closer. Newt, being the agile person he was, stepped over all the shards and picked her up, cuddling her close. Thomas forced himself to look away. 

He threw all the big shards in the bin and opened the tiny storage closet, searching for a vacuum as Newt watched him.    
  


“You okay, Tommy?”

Thomas nodded furiously as he turned the vacuum on and started cleaning the floor. 

“I’m fine -- it’s fine -- I was just being clumsy,” he said, just loud enough for Newt to hear.

Newt stood still with Lulu in his arms as he watched him clean the floor. Fortunately, it didn’t take long, and Thomas was relieved when it all seemed clean and his heartbeat slowed down. 

He walked back to storage closet, trying to get his hands to stop shaking as he stuffed the vacuum back in the enclosed space. 

_ Way to make a good impression, Thomas.  _

He forced a smile and turned back around, facing Newt, who was now putting Lulu back down. 

“I’ll replace the plate -” He started, but Newt dismissed him by waving his hand carelessly. 

“Don’t worry about it. Minho breaks a plate every other day, so I made sure to only buy ones from the cheap places.”

Newt smiled and sat down on a barstool, leaning over the kitchen counter to look at what Thomas had prepared for him. 

“What’s this? It smells amazing.”

“Family secret,” Thomas said, walking back to the stove. “You’ll see.” 

Newt’s gaze averted a little and his eyes widened as Thomas came closer.

“Tommy -” 

A stabbing pain shot through his foot and and Thomas winced, feeling his right leg lose power. Newt grabbed his shoulder, steadying him with a worried look on his face. 

“What the fuck?!” 

Thomas looked down to see a leftover shard of the plate stick out of the side of his foot. How it got there, he didn’t know, but his once-white socks were now turning a concerning shade of crimson, and he felt himself get sick. 

He looked up, dizzy. Newt let go of him, walking around the counter as Thomas tried to balance himself on one foot. 

“Here.” 

Newt took Thomas’ left arm and swung it around his shoulder, allowing Thomas to lean on him as Newt walked towards his room. Thomas hopped along clumsily, trying but failing to not focus on his foot as every step resulted in a sharp pain shooting up from his foot through his leg. 

Newt guided him towards his bed, where Thomas sat down, trying not to look at his foot. Newt walked into his bathroom and Thomas watched him rummage through a narrow closet where Thomas knew he kept his medical supplies. 

Newt came back with a green box that seemed to be full of bandages and band-aids under his left arm, balancing on his hip, and a wet towel in his right hand. He used his foot to pull his nightstand under Thomas’ leg with a focused expression on his face. 

“Put your foot on this,” Newt said, handing him the towel. Thomas forced himself to bend over and place his foot on the nightstand after laying the towel down underneath it as Newt took some tiny boxes out of the bigger box. Then, Newt looked up with a soft look in his eyes. 

“This is gonna hurt, alright?”

Thomas nodded, closing his eyes as he felt his face whiten. He hated the sight of his foot, the blood made him nauseous and was now dripping slowly on the white towel. 

Newt grabbed his ankle and then, he was in even more pain. 

He laid down on his back and forced himself to stay quiet as he felt Newt take the shard out of his foot. Tears welled up in his eyes and were threatening to spill out until the pain suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes and glanced at his foot, but immediately laid back down again as the blood was flowing even quicker now. 

“I’m gonna throw up,” he mumbled. Next thing he knew, Newt placed a tiny bucket next to his head. 

This time, Thomas did look up, just to throw him a confused look. Newt shrugged, focused on taking off Thomas’ sock while also, it seemed, trying to stop most of the bleeding.

“Prozac makes me nauseous.” 

Thomas nodded, laying back down and placing the bucket on his stomach. Newt worked quiet and quickly, cleaning the wound and bandaging up his foot in no-time as Thomas tried to stay focused on the ceiling and not the redness of his sock and the towel, or the sharp metallic scent in the air. 

“You can look now,” Newt said after a few minutes full of throbbing pain and nausea. Thomas, checking first and seeing that it was okay, sat up slowly as Newt packed up everything he’d used. The towel and sock seemed to have been placed in another, slightly bigger bucket full of red-stained water. It was quiet for a while, until Thomas spoke again in a hoarse voice. 

“Not my best day.”

Newt smiled at him and closed the green box, putting it next to Thomas on the bed. “At least you didn’t throw up.” 

Thomas threw up.

\---

They spent the evening talking on the couch together, Thomas taking up almost half of it with his leg. Newt checked up on his wound every once in a while, making sure it had stopped bleeding and didn’t have any leftover, tiny shards in it anymore. Thomas was grateful for the help, but couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed every time Newt announced it was, as he called it, “Babying Thomas time!”. 

At dinner, Minho teased him endlessly while Sonya and her girlfriend Harriet laughed along, up until the point where Thomas threatened to take away their food. 

“That’s cool, we don’t like it anyway,” Newt said unexpectedly, grinning smugly when Thomas glared at him. 

Deep inside, he was glad that they teased him so much about injuring his foot. It kind of drew the attention away from the fact that he dropped a plate when Newt walked in. Of course, only Newt had been there when it happened, and he couldn’t have known it was  _ because  _ of him, but Thomas felt like Minho had been staring at him suspiciously throughout the evening and it made him very uncomfortable. He had come to accept the fact that he was indeed attracted to Newt, but actually facing his feelings and admitting it to someone else was way too much, a step he couldn’t take right now. Sure, Minho was amazing and sure, he would support him -- he wasn’t even straight himself and Newt had come out years ago -- but Thomas couldn’t help but feel like not telling his friend was simply for the best. Something about the way Minho was eyeing him and Newt all evening made him feel like he was onto something and wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. And that was a very,  _ very  _ scary thought. 

\---

“See something you like?”

Minho didn’t reply and continued staring at him, seemingly deep in thought. 

Thomas chuckled nervously. “Seriously, what’s up?”

“You’re acting weird.” 

Thomas turned to look away, not wanting to look him in the eye right now. He could hear Newt walking around in the kitchen. “I’m not.”

“You are,” Minho said, standing up and taking Newt’s place on the couch. “It’s freaking me out.” 

Thomas looked at him. He seemed genuinely worried. Sighing, he decided to respond, even if it was just to get him off his back. 

“Listen, I’m fine. It’s just been a crazy week.”

Minho wasn’t convinced, though. He looked at Thomas with a mix of suspicion and genuine fear in his eyes. “Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Are you sure?”

Thomas glanced at the door, wishing for Newt to come back. He wasn’t good at dealing with pressure like this. “I’m fine.”

“So you’re not sure.”

Thomas rolled his eyes, deciding to try it another way. “Listen, I’m not going to tell you anything if you don’t tell me anything either.”

He grinned when Minho remained quiet. At least that shut him up. 

“Fine. It’s Ben, we’ve been going out for two months.” 

Thomas’ mouth dropped open in shock at Minho’s sudden outburst. 

“Ben?!”

“Shut up, will you?” Minho whispered, looking at the door nervously. “I don’t want Newt to find out about him.”

“Why not?”

Minho shrugged. “He always gets so excited about things like this. I guess I don’t want him to know until it’s official, y’know. I just told him it’s a fling.”

Thomas nodded in understanding. “I guess I can see that.”

Minho nodded back, his serious face slowly changing into a grinning one. 

“So… what happened?”

\---

“Don’t confess publicly,” Minho said out of nowhere as they were getting coffee. Thomas whipped his head around quickly, shushing him immediately. 

“Don’t just talk about it!” 

“Why not?” Minho asked, a puzzled look on his face. “No one’s listening.”

“He could be  _ here _ !” Thomas whispered urgently. “I don’t want anyone to know. I didn’t even want you to know!”

“I’m hurt, but not surprised.” Minho walked past him and grabbed their two coffee cups as their names were called. 

They walked to their regular spot, Thomas checking if anyone they knew was in the little shop before saying: “I’m not going to confess publicly. I don’t think I’m going to confess at all. I don’t want to.”

“You’re a coward.”

“I’m not a coward. I’m just being smart.”

“And I’m disappointed in you. Come on dude, where’s the courage? When you had a crush on Teresa you pretty much told everyone.” 

“Because…” Thomas said, taking out his laptop to work on his term paper, “this is different.”

“Why’s it different?” Minho asked, taking a sip of his coffee as he watched Thomas unpack. 

Thomas shrugged. 

“Because it’s Newt.” 

\---

Thomas wasn’t one for good plans, he never had been. Newt was the one that always made their plans, Thomas simply following behind. And Thomas was okay with that. His impulsive plans were always fun, but almost never a good idea. Add Minho’s recklessness to that, and they often ended up in trouble, whether that was with school, their other friends, their families, or even a moody cop -- though that happened only once. Which is why, when he showed up at Newt’s house with a pizza in his hands, he already knew that this night wouldn’t end well.

Newt opened the door the same way he had  _ that _ night, glancing at what Thomas was holding and groaning. 

“You really want me to become fat, don’t you?”

Thomas smirked. “I need to put at least  _ some  _ skin on those bones.”

Newt smiled, letting him step inside. “How’s your foot?”

“Better,” Thomas said, placing the pizza on the dining table. “It seems to have healed, for the most part at least. Brenda’s been helping me keep it clean.”

“Good,” Newt said. “Wounds like these generally take about two to three weeks to heal, so it should be okay.”

Newt sat down as Thomas opened the box and gave him a slice. “Pizza Margherita. Your favourite.”

“You know me so well.” 

They ate slowly, in silence, until Newt asked: “So what’s your excuse for fattening me up today?”

Thomas smiled, wiping some tomato sauce off his cheek. “Don’t you remember?”

Newt stared at him, then, as realization dawned on his face, smiled back. 

“Of course. But Minho’s not here, we can’t do it without him.”

“Right,” Thomas said, thinking quickly of a cover for Minho. “He went out with some friends.”

“Some friends?” Newt asked sceptically. 

“You know,” Thomas said, a blush creeping up on his face. “Some people from his gym. Alby, Gally... ”

Newt nodded, but Thomas knew he didn’t believe him. Sighing, he admitted: “He went out. As in, on a date. But you’re not supposed to know, so don’t ask any more questions or let him know I told you, okay?”

Newt smiled with that stupid, smug grin of his. “Of course.” 

\---

It was June fourteenth, their graduation anniversary, which meant that Newt and Thomas got absolutely wasted, just like on graduation night. It was one of their traditions. Minho usually partook in it as well, but considering he was on a date at the moment, Thomas felt like they could do it without him for this one year. 

He couldn’t deny that he was bad under the influence of alcohol, which is why he tried to stop himself from drinking too much all night. Too much coke and vodka meant a touchy-feely, annoying and  _ incredibly horny  _ Thomas. Nevertheless, he was a lightweight, and was already tipsy after only one glass. Newt wasn’t, though. Thomas didn’t know how he did it, but despite him being so skinny, Newt pretty much never got  _ too  _ drunk. This resulted in Thomas giving him glass after glass, while Newt laughed endlessly about his shaky hands and clumsiness. 

Newt was a scary drunk, behaving almost sober. He once told Thomas that his brain got all fuzzy and his decision-making skills got worse when he was drunk, but he never  _ acted  _ drunk. Thomas had slapped him on the back of his head and didn’t believe him until he saw Newt drunk for the first time, at graduation, his slight slur giving away that he was indeed drunk. 

Time seemed to pass too fast as they ate snacks and went through their old yearbook and videos they took at school, cringing at their high-school haircuts and clothing choices. It was way past midnight when they laid on the L-shaped couch, staring at the ceiling together, talking quietly. 

“Remember Janson?”

Thomas puffed out a laugh. “As if I’d ever forget.”

“He sure hated you.”

Thomas traced the uneven white lines of the ceiling with his finger in the air, inches above his face. He dropped it and sighed. “Remember Aris?”

Newt groaned. “Stop.”

“He sure hated  _ you. _ ”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly fond of him either.” 

Thomas hummed in agreement. “What even happened between you two?”

“Dunno,” Newt said, but there a was a certain quiver to his voice that wasn’t there before. “We just didn’t get along. He liked you, though.” 

Thomas heard a glass clink. 

“Haven’t you had enough?”

“Slim it.”

The couch creaked as Newt, Thomas assumed, laid back down. 

It was silent for a while, until Newt spoke up. 

“Aris totally had a crush on you.”

Thomas sat up, frowning. “What?”

Newt shrugged, playing with the half-full glass sitting on his stomach.

“It was obvious. Minho and I talked about it constantly.” 

“Shut up,” Thomas said, confused.

“It’s true!” Newt sat up as well. “Lots of people did, by the way. Teresa Agnes?”

Thomas shook his head. “She was just friendly. If she liked me, I would’ve asked her out.” 

Newt rolled his eyes. “You know, for someone with an almost-PhD, you’re not that smart.”

“Shut up.” Thomas threw a pillow at him, which Newt caught quite graciously considering his drunken state. 

“Brenda.”

“Stop!”

An obvious blush was creeping up on Thomas’ face and he used another pillow to hide his face.

“Literally everyone was attracted to you.”    
  


“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Even m-” 

“Stop it!” 

Thomas instinctively threw the pillow he was holding at Newt, who threw his head back and laughed loudly, until it hit him in the face. 

“I hate you.”

Newt flipped him off from under the pillow before throwing it off. 

“Just saying.” 

“I think I’m done with this little high school flashback,” Thomas said, standing up and pretending to walk away. 

“Nooo!” Newt grabbed his leg, pulling him on the couch next to him. “I enjoy embarrassing you.”

“I don’t enjoy being embarrassed.” 

“Too bad then, pretty boy, I’m not done yet.”

The time ticked away as Newt, drunker by the hour, talked and talked about everyone’s crushes on Thomas. Apparently, Teresa had been obsessed with him from the start, whereas Brenda was more of a laid-back type. Aris, however, kept his crush hidden from Thomas from the start and only his close friends knew. And Newt and Minho, apparently. That didn’t surprise Thomas, though. They were the smartest people Thomas knew, which is why he was so scared Newt would figure out his crush on him. 

\---

“Doesn’t seem like Minho’s coming back tonight.” 

Thomas nodded, deep in thought. 

“I guess he’s staying at Ben’s,” he said absentmindedly.

“Ben?!”

Thomas groaned. “Fuck. Don’t tell Minho I gave him away.” 

Newt shook his head rapidly, but a grin was spreading on his face. Thomas, knowing how drunk he was, prayed he wouldn’t remember in the morning. 

At some point, they had ended up sitting on the floor, their backs against the soft, beige couch, legs slightly touching. 

“This is fun,” Newt said. “I’m gonna talk to him tomorrow. That’s what he gets for not telling me” 

“Aww, leave him be, he’s in love,” Thomas chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. He’s made fun of my crushes, I can make fun of his.” 

“You’ve never had a crush,” Thomas said, chuckling. “Nice try.”

“I so have!” Newt exclaimed. “I just don’t tell you because you are a tatty-tale, as the Americans call it.”

“It’s tattle-tale.”

“My point still stands.” 

Thomas clutched at his heart, turning slightly so his body was facing Newt’s. 

“I’m genuinely hurt that you don’t trust me.”

Newt grinned. “I’m still not gonna tell you.” 

Thomas hit him with another pillow. 

\---

Thomas was sitting on the couch, Newt’s head in his lap, his eyes closed. Thomas was playing with his hair, his mind slightly fuzzy. 

It was a position they found themselves in quite often when they were drunk, despite their friendly bickering. Minho had jokingly called them a married couple many times because of it.

“You know,” Newt started, slightly dragging out the vowels, “I understand why everyone had a crush on you back in high school.”

“What?” Thomas asked absentmindedly. 

Newt shrugged. “Just saying. I understand Teresa and Brenda.” 

“And Aris?”

“Aris?” Newt frowned, scrunching up his face in confusion. “What about him?”

“You said he had a crush on me,” Thomas said, puzzled. 

“Oh, right.” Newt let out a laugh. “No, that’s not true.”

“It’s not?”

Newt yawned. “Absolutely not. I don’t think he liked you at all. I did, though.”

Thomas’ face flushed, but he knew he probably didn’t mean it that way. Newt was the kind of guy to speak in a certain tone that made you questions his intentions, but he never seemed to mean it in a different, non-friendly way. 

“I hope so, otherwise you’d be a pretty fake friend,” Thomas tried. 

Newt laughed, his eyes still closed. “Again, Thomas, for someone with an almost-PhD, you’re not that smart.”

“Thank you,” Thomas said, smiling at him even though Newt couldn’t see him. “I still don’t know what you meant.” 

Newt groaned. 

“For the love of god, Tommy, put the pieces together. I had a crush on you.”

Then, he fell asleep.

\---

Thomas woke up with a bad hangover and a dry throat, his back hurting from sleeping in a sitting position. It took him a few seconds to realize Newt was gone, and another few to see a plate with toast on it sitting on the table. In the kitchen, he could hear Newt rummaging through the cabinets.

He stretched and rubbed his eyes, already regretting not drinking water the night before. 

“Morning, sunshine.” 

Newt walked in with another plate in his one hand, a glass of orange juice in the other. 

“What time is it?” 

Newt checked his watch, almost spilling the orange juice. “Twelve thirty. Not really morning anymore.” 

Thomas watched him, starting to remember their conversations from last night. Newt glanced at him as he sat down, his brows furrowing.    
  


“Not hungry?”

Thomas shook his head, reaching out to his food. “Just thinking. Some details from last night aren’t that clear anymore.”

He held his breath, waiting to see if Newt would understand and explain what he said. He was hoping Newt would bring it up himself, so they could talk about it together. Newt, however, huffed out a laugh and said: “ _ Some _ ? Dude, I don’t remember anything that happened after dinner.” 

He looked at Thomas and continued. “That’s not true, actually. I remember embarrassing you.” 

“Yeah,” Thomas laughed nervously, a little disappointed. “I didn’t really enjoy that.” 

Newt hummed and continued eating, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Thomas, however, felt more anxious by the minute. 

_ What the fuck? _

\---

Minho arrived at his home by five, looking as if he hadn’t slept at all. Thomas pulled him inside, trying but failing to sneak upstairs without anyone from his family noticing. 

“You boys studying together?”

His mom stood in the doorway, her arms folded. 

“Hey, Mrs -”

“Busy, mom!” Thomas said as he forced Minho to walk faster. 

Minho sat down on Thomas’ desk chair as Thomas locked the door after making sure no one else was upstairs to hear them. 

“What is it?” Minho asked, yawning. Thomas threw him a puzzled look. 

“Dude, did you not sleep at all?”

Minho shook his head, grinning sheepishly. When seeing the look on Thomas’ face, he stopped smiling, though. “It wasn’t like that! I promise, we just talked all night.” 

“Sure,” Thomas said sceptically. He walked over to his bed and sat down, sighing desperately. 

“What’s up?” Minho asked, a concerned look etched on his face. 

“I- we-”

Thomas ran a hand through his hair, struggling to find the words. This whole situation was so bizarre, he had no idea what to do with himself.

“Is it true that Newt used to have a crush on me?” He blurted out. 

It remained silent between the two boys for a second. Thomas blushed, about to tell Minho to forget about it when Minho started laughing. 

Thomas, anxious and confused, watched him as Minho threw his head back and clapped in his hands from joy. Minho suddenly looked like he had all his energy back as he laughed at him, making Thomas worry that Newt had just been making fun of him. 

Minho’s laughing faded slowly, with Thomas still watching him silently. 

“Oh my god,” Minho said, wiping away a tear in his right eye. “I’m sorry, I just-” 

He laughed some more, completely ignoring Thomas’ confused face until Thomas spoke up. 

“So - no?”

Minho smiled at him, eyes sparkling with joy. “No?”

Thomas, not wanting to mention it again, nodded. 

Minho shook his head, still laughing a little. “You are so stupid. Yes, you idiot.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What?”

Minho looked at him. “He did, you shuckface. He was head over heels for you, for  _ years.  _ I’m surprised it took you this long to find out. Pretty much the entire school knew. And the teachers. And his family. And mine. Yours too.”

Thomas was rendered speechless as he studied Minho’s face for any sign of sarcasm. Finally, after what felt like, minutes, he spoke up, his voice cracking. 

“Really?”

Minho nodded. “It drove me insane. He was such a tough guy, y’know. And then you would come around and he would completely forget how to flirt or make a move. It was the most frustrating thing I’d ever witnessed.”

“That’s…” Thomas stared at the floor, gathering his thoughts. 

“Wait, how do you know this?” Minho suddenly asked, sounding confused. 

Thomas shrugged. “Newt told me.”

Minho’s smile faded. “You told him about your crush?”

“No! God, no,” Thomas said, his face flushing. “It’s a long story. But I didn’t tell him.”

His face dropped. “Oh my god, should I have told him?”

“Don’t ask me that, I’m always gonna say yes to that question,” Minho said nonchalantly. 

Thomas groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I hate my life.”

“It’s not that bad,” Minho said in an attempt to cheer him up. “So what, you didn’t know about his crush. That’s fine. You never notice crushes, Newt knows that.”

“But I always talked about how much I liked other people to him!” Thomas said exasperatedly. 

Minho threw him a sympathetic look. “Yeah, that’s bad.”

“And now I like him and  _ he  _ doesn’t know!”

“That’s also bad.”

“He has totally moved on.”

Minho remained quiet this time. He looked up, Minho watching him carefully. 

“Hasn’t he?”

\---

Thomas pounded on the door to Newt’s apartment desperately. Minho had left him, mumbling something about going back to Ben’s place. 

He paced up and down next to the door, his heart racing faster than ever before. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous, his brain constantly telling him how wrong this all could go. He didn’t care, though. Good plans were never his thing and he didn’t want to wait any longer. 

Newt opened the door rather late, looking scruffled up as if he’d been asleep. His face scrunched up in confusion as he looked at Thomas. 

“Tommy?”

He looked him up and down once. “Where’s your coat?”

Despite the nerve-wracking situation, Thomas had to bite back a smile. Newt and his goddamn coats. 

He was silent for a while, working up the courage to speak as Newt stared at him without moving a limb. 

“Is it true that you had a crush on me?”

The question echoed loudly through the empty hallway, getting softer by the second. Newt’s eyes widened the slightest amount and he tensed up, clearly taken aback by the sudden question. Thomas’ face heated up and he had to force himself to stand still and not run back down the stairs. 

“I - Thomas -” 

“Is it true that you still do?”

This time, he spoke softly, stepping closer. Newt stood in the doorway, motionless, but obviously thinking hard. 

Then, he nodded. 

Thomas stood still for a second, gathering his thoughts. His ‘plan’ -- a weak, poorly thought-out plan -- ended here. He hadn’t expected Newt to say yes. He hadn’t even expected himself to go through with it. 

Newt had lowered his head, avoiding his gaze at all costs. He seemed so small, suddenly, vulnerable, even. Thomas had the strong urge to hug him.

“I’m sorry.”

Thomas snapped out of his trance when Newt spoke up in a soft whisper. The blond looked back up, a small smile on his sad face. 

“It’s fine, though. I’ll get over it. Don’t worry about it.” 

Thomas looked him in the eyes, his heart hurting. He’d never seen Newt look so vulnerable before. 

He stepped closer instinctively, not thinking clearly anymore. In any other situation, he would’ve freaked out, maybe left, but for some reason, looking at this Newt, so scared and sad, his mind had calmed down. 

He placed his hand on Newt’s cheek, his fingers just behind his ear. Newt’s expression changed, watching him intensely. He stood up straight, making the height difference appear even bigger as he looked down at Thomas. 

“I don’t want you to get over it.” 

He didn’t know who moved first, all he knew was that suddenly, the gap between them had closed completely, Newt’s arms around him and his around Newt. Their lips crashed together desperately, Thomas forgetting how to breathe for a few seconds as Newt pulled him closer and closer.

It had seemed like only a few seconds when they stood there, but when they were forced to pull away, Thomas knew minutes must have passed. Newt’s face was still only inches from his and he was staring at him, completely silent.

“Ugh, get a room, you two.”

Thomas had never wanted to kill Minho more than in that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> yes i did put some real life experiences into this, sue me  
> 
> 
> (i hate this)


End file.
